DirtyLabCoat

Yeah, I applied to Microbio at Yale and I know they contact in early Jan. University of Washington will be late Dec for Immuno

Our programs start invitations next week in general

Yeah same haha

I have gathered a lot of microbio/immuno will be contacted next week!

Anyone can say nice things about you but substance in backing up those claims is key. IMO, go with your field support supervisor who has seen your work.

A day or two late won't matter

IMHO, I would never pay for a PhD. There are more than enough schools with funding available. Many mentors have told me the same.

I am just nervous now since I applied to immuno/microbio programs and have heard nothing yet...

Cornell Gmail servers went down over the weekend...I HOPE any emails from my schools did not get lost in that...stressing...

Which Micro/Immuos are on the ball? Some schools said they weren't even convening until the 15th of Dec.

When were your deadlines?

Nice to see a fellow Immuno/Micro person! Yeah your letters and personal will help you a great deal. Just relax!

Hey everyone. Just wondering who all have also submitted applications to this (Immunology & Microbial Pathogenesis)/ these programs. Tension is rapdily building...

1) Are you the first in your family to pursue graduate education? Are you the first to pursue higher education in general? My father was a bus driver from the Metropolitan Transit Authority of NY for 30+ years and my mother emigrated here from Peru so neither went to college. 2) What struggles have you faced as a first-generation applicant? Applying for Immunology/Microbiology PhD programs was slightly more diffcult as I didn't have parents that were physicians or scientists like some applicants to guide me through the process. That is not to say they did not give me their full support. I am thankful I had a very strong support system consisting of my academic advisor, reserach PI at Cornell, and all my supervisors of my past internships to lead me in the right direction. 3)What have you accomplished as a first-generation applicant? I was Salutatorian of my high school. Graduated with an honors thesis in Microbiology and as a Cornell Research Scholar with 4 pharmaceutical/biotechology internships under my belt and I currently work for the USDA at Plum Island as a Collaborating Scientist working on FMDV as a gap-year position before grad school. (It never seems like you have done enough until you write it out all on paper...) 4)What has helped you reach your educational goals? Having the emotional support of my parents and a loving home honestly was a major factor. If they didn't always push me to do my best or get me interested in different things to find what I liked I don't think I ever would have done as much as I have. Also all the faculty as my high school and at Cornell have been like my extended family throughout this whole process. Needless to say I am very grateful to have them all.

Anyone else in the same boat? Just curious!

Hello All! This is a little bit of a repeat of a previous question but as the time for graduate schools applications is approaching, I would like to make sure I get all my questions answered... I am a recent graduate of Cornell University as a Human Biology, Health, and Society major. I just accepted a position for my gap year as a Collaborating Scientist at Plum island Animal Disease Center on FMDV vaccines development. I will be applying this fall for a doctoral program in Immunology/Microbiology. I have taken my GRE exam this spring with verbal score percentile of about 89% but quant was around 70%. However I have a very strong research background as I have conducted microbiology research all 4 years at Cornell (with a possible paper being produced) and completed an honors thesis. Each summer of my undergraduate career I have completed industry internships: Molecular Pharmacology Intern at Amgen, Inflammation Intern at Amgen, Flow Cytometry Fellow at Madrid, Spain's National Oncology Research Center, and now the full year position with the U.S. government researching Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus. I have also done international mobile clinic volunteer trips and spent a semester at Cornell Weill Medical School interning with physicians while taking classes as well. I also have done research in high school as well at a private clinical testing lab as a lab assistant. I have graduated from Cornell as a Hunter Rawlings Research Scholar given to about 1% of the university. My final GPA stands at 3.5 which courses in : Chemistry/Organic, Physics, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Immunology, Statistics, Molecular Toxicology, Bacterial Genetics, Human Anatomy, Physio/Biochemical Human Metabolism, Nutrition, Pharmaceutical Managment/Policy, and Pymol Molecular Graphics with laboratories in all. I have even been maintaing my own research blog called The Dirty Lab Coat. www.thedirtylabcoat.com With all of that said, I have hopes to apply to schools such as Berkeley, Stanford, UCSF, Harvard, Columbia, Cornell Weill, etc... My main question is with a weak quant score on my GRE would it be better to either 1. retake the GRE 2. take a GRE subject test or 3. having my research background outweigh the GRE? I would really appreciate any feedback given. Neither of my parents have attended college so I am trying to research all of this on my own to get the best possible chance at obtaining my doctorate. Thank you very very much! Rudy

I have heard though that GREs for these types of areas don't really count for much if your research, activities, courses say otherwise

Hi All! I am a senior at Cornell University majoring in Human Biology, Health, and Society and plan on going to grad school for a Ph.D in an immunology/microbio program. I just received my GRE scores and I wanted to know if it is worth retaking them. Verbal = 160 =590 old scale = 84% Math= 155= 700 old scale= 64% AWA=4.0 It was my first time taking them. My GPA is currently a 3.4 with a graduate class in Molecular Tox included. I will be graduating with an Honors Thesis as well in microbiology and have a Cornell Hunter Rawlings Research Scholar distinction. I have done microbio research at Cornell all four years as well. I have had internships every summer: Amgen twice for the summers after freshman and sophomore year, and a fellowship at the Spanish National Oncology Research Center in Madrid, Spain this past summer. I have also done research at Brookhaven National Labs and at ICON Central Laboratories during high school. I am active in extracurriculars as well being a microbe TA for multiple semesters. I also plan on doing a gap year program as either a Biology TA at Weill Cornell's Medical school in Doha, Qatar for a year or be a research associate at a pharma/research lab. With these considerations in mind, do you think it is worth it to retake my GREs??? Or is there something else I could do. Thank you all!!!!!!!